What gun for a woman with tiny hands?

[RKBABob]

No, its not one of those threads... you know, where us men try to tell a woman what's right for them. My wife asked me to get a few suggestions for firearms she should look at.


My wife wants her own gun (rather than share mine)... problem is, she has absolutely tiny little hands. She has little strength in her fingers, as well. She's constantly asking me to open bottles for her. Once, she had to get a gas station attendant to unscrew the gas cap for her.

I'm not exaggerating... she's got tiny little hands, ok? Like a 4 year old.

Well, racking a slide seems to be a problem, especially on small little semis that she'd be likely to carry. Bigger guns are a problem because her fingers are so short. DOA revolvers are an issue, given the 12lb, ultra-looooong trigger pull.

A da/sa revolver works well. Grips are available to really customize it to her hands, and she can fire it single action. Low power ammo helps tame recoil. But there has got to be some other solution.

Time for you guys, and especially girls, to chime in.

Maybe someone who has kids, since her hands are about that size, can help. What SD caliber gun have you trained your young ones on?

What has a small grip, and reach to the trigger.... a light trigger.... won't jump out of her hands.... and is small enough, and safe enough to carry?

Its about time she found THE gun. One that fits her hands.


(Yes, I know... go to the range and rent everything in sight. We'll do that eventually, but steer us in the general direction, first.)

 

[Conqueror]

Pocket autos. Beretta, Kahr, Taurus, etc. make them and they are very small indeed. The best thing to do would be to take her to a well-stocked gun shop and let her fondle as many small pistols as possible, and buy the one she feels most comfortable holding.

 

[Technosavant]

My sisters have small hands, and they really liked a Kahr. Best thing might be to take her to a gun store with a wide selection and a patient staff and let her hold most anything in there. There's a number of things that would be good for smaller handed folks (Kahr, Beretta tip-up autos, Springfield EMP, etc.), but there's only one way to find what really fits her hand. No need to begin by renting, even just holding will narrow the field down pretty considerably.

 

[Bennett Prescott]

RKBABob,

Take her to the gun store!

I have a friend with tiny hands who now goes shooting with us regularly. She can't stand my Glock 17 grip, although she can shoot it just fine. Based on that, I wouldn't have expected her to be comfortable with my Ruger Alaskan, but she picked it up and immediately was pleased as punch.

The only person who can tell what fits comfortable in your wife's hands is your wife. Plenty of manufacturers make compact pistols with all sorts of different small grips.

 

[Jim Watson]

The Kel-Tec pocket pistols are very small with light DAO triggers. I recommend the .32; the .380 has substantial recoil in that light gun.

Next step up is a Kahr 9mm. Small grip, light DAO.
Next step up are S&W 3913 and Sig-Sauer P239. The P239 is one of the few guns that actually feels too small for my medium-small guy hand. They are both DA-SA, so she will have to haul through the double action one time per magazine.

If you could find a (discontinued) Colt Government .380, that is a slim gun. It is a strictly SA cocked and locked pistol, so she would have to put in a little more training and practice than the usual point, pull, and pray double actions.

Racking the slide is more a matter of technique than brute strength. The Cornered Cat has instruction on the methods and a lot more information of value to a woman wanting a gun, written by a woman.
http://www.corneredcat.com/

If she just can't cope, there is an option that is seldom mentioned because it is not usable for the recreational shooter. You load the gun for her. A good quality gun, well tested and broken in, is not likely to require frantic malfunction clearance, and in the usual defensive situation, if you can't get your business done in one magazine, you are probably sunk anyhow.

I know one lady who IS a recreational shooter and finds racking the slide difficult. So she does it ONCE per trip to the range. She sets up a target, inserts a magazine, and wrassles the slide back to get started. After that, the gun is either being shot, is taking a break with the safety engaged, or is empty ON THE SLIDE STOP. In which case she reloads, punches the lever and resumes shooting.

 

[RKBABob]

The only person who can tell what fits comfortable in your wife's hands is your wife.

Oh, I definately know that. I'm just looking for something that we may not have been aware of, or considered... and its nice to have a few things in mind before going to the store.

2 suggestions for Kahr. We may have to take a look at those.

Springfield EMP is another good suggestion. Light SA trigger, and a smaller grip than a .45. All metal, so it will tame some of the recoil.

Tip-up barrels are something she's looking at... but she'll try racking a few slides at the gun shop.

 

[RKBABob]

If she just can't cope, there is an option that is seldom mentioned because it is not usable for the recreational shooter. You load the gun for her.

That's pretty much the arrangement we've agreed upon. She really has difficulty with some slides.

I know one lady who IS a recreational shooter and finds racking the slide difficult.

Glad to know some serious shooters have the same problem... I can tell her she isn't the only one.

The P239 is one of the few guns that actually feels too small for my medium-small guy hand. They are both DA-SA, so she will have to haul through the double action one time per magazine.

Hmmm... I'd really like to share one of those.

 

[Jim Watson]

If she can get a firm grip and doesn't mind the overall size, the P239 would be high on the list. They are well made and extremely reliable.

 

[Neo-Luddite]

Ladysmith .38; they come with a lightened and polished trigger from the factory. I know, 5 shot wheel guns have limitations; but she'll never have to perform imediate action to clear a jam. Everyone that has shot my wife's adores the manners of the thing and it is our at ready gun in the house.

Of course, your wife needs to find a good fit for her-that's the whole thing.
If you could find an old Colt 1903/1908 ([email protected] ACP) that is a fatastic vinatge auto that really fits a small persons hands but has nice smooth contours and a reassuring heaft.

As Jim Watson said also, the (newer but discontinued) .380 Colt Mustang might fit the bill, too. It functions like a small 1911 and is reliable from what I've heard.

 

[the naked prophet]

My wife also has 4-year-old hands. We had some problems initially, but after my wife read this at the cornered cat, she figured out the problem.

All Glock models were too large for her. Before she read the cornered cat article, she bought a glock 27. That didn't work out.

Some guns we tried that DID NOT work:

Kel-Tec P32/P11/P3AT: the grips were small enough, but the double action trigger pull was so long that the trigger was too far away for her to reach with her hand on the grip. The gun looks tiny, but look at how far away the trigger is from the grip.

Walther P22: Same as the kel-tecs, the trigger was just too far away.

PPK: it looks like such a small gun, but the grip is actually quite large. No go.

Kahr guns (PM9, P9, K9, etc): Again with the small gun with a looooong DA trigger pull. Trigger was too far away, she couldn't reach it.

SIG P232 or whatever their .380 is: Way too big. It feels bulky and large to me, and I have man-hands. She just rolled her eyes when she tried this one on. Why do people think this is a small gun?

Smith&Wesson J-frames: also too big. Guess what! Trigger pull was too long, trigger too far away.


Some of the guns that DID WORK:

1911 with thin-panel grips: Surprisingly she found that a 1911, due to its short trigger pull and single-stack design, worked well. But, the trigger has to be one of the short triggers (not one of the long ones with three holes through it) and it has to have the slim grips which require special grip screw bushings and grip screws. She still owns her Colt 1911 Officer (shown here with a blue gun I use for making holsters) with the cotton/epoxy composite grips I made for it.

S&W M&P: Because of the basically single-action trigger and different-sized grip inserts, this one fits her perfectly. Her M&P is now her carry gun (except that the slide-lock keeps engaging - going back to S&W for repair).

Beretta M1934: We picked up a cheap old (but good condition) Italian Air Force marked piece made in 1943. Single action .380 looking like a cross between a 1911 and a Beretta 92. Cutaway slide, simple blowback action, but single action trigger. Tiny little thing. After installing Wolff replacement springs, it ran like a top. We had the gunsmith fix up the sights, and it works well enough now. The only problem is finding magazines that work. The followers on all four magazines tend to pop out the top of the gun when the slide impacts the follower after the last shot has been fired. This of course messes up the springs and the feed lips. I'd like to design a slide stop for it, but that would have to take the place of the safety, of course if I made a new safety for it... but that's another discussion for another time.

 

[mdao]

I've had the same issue to a lesser extent (small but thick hands) and have helped family members with small hands pick out pistols. This is what I've found. List is pretty much in order of suitability.

The Walther PPS is excellent for smaller hands. It's very flat in the grip area and has a nice and short trigger reach. Recoil is also relatively soft compared to other guns near it's size class. The mag release sucks though.

A 1911 with a short trigger, flat MSH, slim grips, and high cut front strap works great. I like them better than the EMP. The grip's a little longer, but trigger reach feels shorter.

An HK P7 can be good if she can get used to the squeeze cocking and slide racking. The slide isn't that easy to get a good grip on and the recoil spring is pretty heavy. Grip shape makes it a bit longer reach to the trigger than both of the above.

The S&W 39xx has very slim grips, and a short SA trigger reach. DA is still pretty long and heavy, but that's the tradeoff.

The P239 can work. With factory rubber grips and a short trigger, it's excellent. With factory wood or Hogue grips and the DAK trigger, it's no good.

Kahrs will work and would beat out the DA/SA guns and the P7, but in my experience, QC is suspect to the great detriment of reliability.

 

[XDKingslayer]

Take her down to the local gun shop and see if they have a Bersa Thunder .380. See if she can operate the slide and releases on that. My wife has absolutely no hand strength either and the Bersa was one of the few she could handle. At the same time it's big enough for her to handle the recoil of fairly well.

 

[-terry]

Well, you're all suggesting autos. Show her a Ruger SP101. It's a 25oz .357 with a small grip and reasonable DA and light SA action. The DA pull can be reduced further by a gunsmith but I doubt that would be necessary.

The 3 1/8 barrel gives a longer sight radius. It's a beautiful gun. If you reload you can reload really soft .357's or you can shoot target 38's. It's worth a look I think.

(Can you tell that I just bought one yesterday? )

 

[jad0110]

Quote:
If she just can't cope, there is an option that is seldom mentioned because it is not usable for the recreational shooter. You load the gun for her.

That's pretty much the arrangement we've agreed upon. She really has difficulty with some slides.

My wife also has tiny, child-like hands and finds racking the slide to be too difficult. In addition to tiny hands, she also has egsima, which makes her hands sweat quite readily, so her hands slip while trying to rack the slide.

Of all my guns (see sig line), the single stack 1911 works best, though it is not ideal. So the 1911 is in condition one and ready to go. No slide racking necessary. She was able to operate the J Frame 642, but she did not like the long trigger pull. She also did not like the recoil, and flinched so violently on her final shot that she threw the bullet into the ceiling at the indoor range - yikes.

When (and if) she is ever interested in finding something that works better than the 1911, I'll help guide her to the right gun. She will be the one to pick it out. So I started doing some basic research, trying to find guns with a trigger reach about the same (or shorter) than the 1911. I did this by using a flexible tape measure to find the distance from the face of the trigger, wrapped around the back strap and back around the the face of the trigger on the other side. I used the same technique and tape measure on every gun I looked at, for better consistency. Here is what I found:

1911A1, single stack: 6”
S&W K/L Frame: 6.3”
S&W J Frame: 5.8”
Kahr 9mm: 5.6”
Bersa Thunder: 5.6”
Sig P225: 6.25”
Hi-Power: 6.2”
Walther P22: 5.2”
Walther PPK: 5.9”
Sig P232: 6.1”
Springfield XD: 6.25”
Ruger Mk III: 6.1”
Luger P08: 6.2”
Beretta Bobcat 21: 6.5”
Kel-tec P32: 5.5”

These measurements aren't the whole answer, obviously. Grip shape has a lot to do with it too. For example, double stack autos are probably out of the question, as there is just too much girth there for her little fingers to grasp on to.

Hope this helps, even if just a bit.

 

[Guntalk]

I have introduced a number of women to shooting with the S&W M&P 9mm. I put the small backstrap on the grip before starting, and they love it.

Note on racking the slide. Unfortunately many male shooters use bad technique for working the slide, but they can get away with it because of the strength of their hands. Weaker hands can not do it with that poor technique.

Show a woman the proper technique, and I have yet to find one who can't work the slide.

Technique: Gun in right hand (reverse for lefties). Bring gun back to chest, but keep the muzzle pointing downrange. Wrap the fingers of the left hand over the top of the slide, with the left thumb pointing back at your chest. Shove forward with your right hand while ripping the slide back with your left.

The push-pull motion is very strong.

Worth trying.

And look hard at that M&P.

 

[PennsyPlinker]

One other thing about the little Berettas is that there is a little lever that pops the barrel up in the air and allows the gun to be loaded without the slide having to be worked. I had a Bobcat .22 for a few years that I used to carry. I think the larger Tomcat works the same way.

 

[Blacky]

I gave my (petite) 70 year old mother a Glock 26 .9mm with a grip extension and a Crimson Trace laser sight - Shes' a dead shot with that gun... which makes me feel a lot more comfortable when I know she's alone.

 

[rj112275]

my wife is short, small hands, size 3.5 ring. anyway, she loves her Glock 26. i think the Kahrs in 9mm would be something to look at. she doesn't like j-frames or heavy trigger pulls either.

 

[Dilbert]

Beretta Tomcat

Beretta Tomcat 32, not a power house, but it beats yelling and kicking. My wife and 13 year old daughter do very well with it, and both like the tilting barrel.

 

[Legionnaire]

My wife's hands are small, not tiny. She likes a Kahr P9. Other options would be a S&W 3913 Ladysmith, or a Ruger SP101 shooting .38 specials.

Jim Watson noted that learning to rack the slide is important. It's easier to do with good technique.

 

[The Lone Haranguer]

I second the recommendations of the 1911, with a flat mainspring housing (which forms the backstrap of the grip), short trigger and slimline grips if necessary, as well as the S&W M&P with the small backstrap fitted. I also suggest getting a hand/finger exercise device to get that finger strength up. We're not talking about compressing a lump of coal into a diamond or anything, but this has benefits that go far beyond shooting a handgun.

 

[Erik]

How about a K-frame S&W .38 Special, complete with the ability to swap stocks until you find her sweet spot?

 

[dispatch55126]

A small .32 might work. Depending on what she'll be carrying it in, maybe a 1895 Nagant? Another option would be a snub nose .38.

 

[Javelin]

SHE will be the only one to determine what feels good in her hands.

Let her try em all.... it doesnt cost any more to hold different types right?

 

[ArchAngelCD]

How about a Beretta Cheetah in .380 Auto. The 84FS Cheetah carries 10 rounds of .380 Auto. It's double stack Mag might make the grip too wide for her hand. The 85FS Cheetah has a single stack 8 round magazine so the pistol has a slimmer profile for people like your wife with smaller hands. You can get that model in Blue or Nickel finish. The 81FS Cheetah is chambered in .32 Auto but it has a double stack Mag so it's grip frame is no smaller than the 84FS.

I think the 85FS might be just what you are looking for and there's nothing wrong with carrying the Browning 9mm Short round for SD.